A goal after nineteen minutes from Mason Donadel ensured that Yoogali SC were promoted to the National Premier League as Capital Premier League Champions, the early strike being enough to see off the challenge of Brindabella Blues in front of a joyous crowd at Solar Mad Stadium in Griffith.
Mason Donadel scored his sixth of the season inside the opening twenty minutes to spark the celebrations, Yoogali knowing only a point would have done, and doing enough thereafter to see off the Blues at arm’s length for the rest of the afternoon.
The result wasn’t a disaster for Brindabella in any case, the Blues excellent end of season form ensuring that they would qualify for finals as the two teams chasing them, Belconnen United and ANU FC, would meet on Sunday. For Yoogali, it was a moment to savour, a chance to mix it with the big boys on a regular basis. A deserved success.
Queanbeyan City made sure that they kept Yoogali honest, having kicked off an hour earlier than their title rivals, recording a convincing 3-0 win over Canberra Juventus at High Street to continue their recent run of good form and make sure they entered the finals in high spirits.
It took until six minutes of the second-half for City to open the scoring, a second goal of the campaign from Nahuel Guerrero, but after that it was Queanbeyan who looked most likely to add to their tally as Juventus, admirably, came looking for a way back into the contest.
The hosts finally shook off their belligerent opposition with a pair of goals within nine minutes of each other. Gabriel Ayuel netted the first, twenty minutes from the full-time whistle, with Goran Mukevski rounding it off with eleven minutes remaining.
White Eagles edged off the bottom of the league table thanks to a 3-1 away win over Wagga City Wanderers at Gissing Oval in the Riverina, ensuring safety in the CPL on goal difference.
Zac Lawrence opened the scoring in the seventh minute to give Eagles the perfect start, but it would take a long time for them to secure the victory, and even then, Wagga were able to pull their way back into it before the Eagles confirmed the points.
Lawrence’s tenth of the season made it 2-0, but Thomas Yongai reduced the arrears minutes later. Cuneyt Caglar restored the two-goal cushion with seven minutes remaining to ensure the Eagles will soar again in 2024.
ANU FC made sure that they would take the final spot available in the top four by claiming the victory in the winner takes all Sunday showdown at the Australian Institute of Sport, a Rory Spiers goal the difference as the University team edged out Belconnen United for the coveted finals position.
Spiers struck for the twelfth time in the 2023 Capital Premier League season with just sixteen minutes remaining, a vital strike as ANU FC needed the maximum return if they were to make the end of season fixtures.
That left the Blue Devils with no time to recover, despite their best efforts at doing so, and they fell agonisingly one point short of the top four. ANU FC move onto the Elimination Final at Deakin Stadium where they would face Brindabella Blues.
Over at Wagga in the catch-up match, Niko Abot netted his 20th goal of the season as Queanbeyan City and Wagga City Wanderers share the spoils in a 1-1 draw. Abot gave City the lead, but Jake Ploenges bagged his fifteenth of a highly productive campaign to equalise and leave honours even.
RESULTS
ROUND 21
Saturday 2 September
Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Yongai 80’) White Eagles 3 (Lawrence 7’, 78’, Caglar 83’)
Queanbeyan City 3 (Guerrero 51’, Ayuel 70’, Mukevski 79’) Canberra Juventus 0
Yoogali SC 1 (M. Donadel 19’) Brindabella Blues 0
Sunday 3 September
Belconnen United 0 ANU FC 1 (Spiers 74’)
Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Ploenges 74’) Queanbeyan City 1 (Abot 66’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Yoogali SC | 21 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 58 | 26 | +32 | 45 |
| 2 | Queanbeyan City | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 43 | 32 | +11 | 41 |
| 3 | ANU FC | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 31 |
| 4 | Brindabella Blues | 21 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 37 | 32 | +5 | 31 |
| 5 | Belconnen United | 21 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 30 |
| 6 | Wagga City Wanderers | 21 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 44 | 43 | +1 | 25 |
| 7 | White Eagles | 21 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 48 | -24 | 15 |
| 8 | Canberra Juventus | 21 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 27 | 65 | -38 | 15 |
TOP SCORERS
20 Niko ABOT (Queanbeyan City)
17 Darren BAILEY (Yoogali SC)
15 Jake PLOENGES (Wagga City Wanderers)
13 Nathan DUCK (Canberra Juventus), Morris KADZOLA (Wagga City Wanderers)
12 Rory SPIERS (ANU FC)
11 Joshua DE ROSSI (Yoogali SC), Joe PREECE (Yoogali SC), Own GOALS
10 Zac LAWRENCE (White Eagles), Curtis SCHAEFFER (Brindabella Blues)
8 Henry WILKS (Brindabella Blues)
6 Jayden DEIGHAN-SMITH (Brindabella Blues), Abderrahim DELLAHI (Queanbeyan City), Mason DONADEL (Yoogali SC), David MCCARRON (Belconnen United), Hayden TUNNEY (Belconnen United)
5 Nicholas HOPE (ANU FC), Sachin SIRKARI (ANU FC), Thomas YONGAI (Wagga City Wanderers)
4 Gabriel AYUEL (Queanbeyan City), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Andrew MANLEY (ANU FC), Liam RAE (Belconnen United), Jamie WARD (Brindabella Blues)
3 Chase DEANS (ANU FC), Reuben DONADEL (Yoogali SC), Steven KRESKAS (White Eagles), Tim LOPEZ (ANU FC), Rowan PETERKIN (ANU FC), Nashwan SULAIMAN (Wagga City Wanderers), Nikola TRAJKOVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Dustin WELLS (Belconnen United)
2 Hassan ALNUWAYSIR (ANU FC), Toni ANGELKOSKI (White Eagles), Nikolas BLASKOVIC (Brindabella Blues), Adam BROOKS (Canberra Juventus), Cuneyt CAGLAR (White Eagles), Charlie D’ADDARIO (Belconnen United), Chaise DONETTO (Wagga City Wanderers), Jack GIBSON (ANU FC), Nahuel GUERRERO (Queanbeyan City), Hussein FUREJE (Queanbeyan City), Ryan GULEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Andre JUGOVAC (Canberra Juventus), Mohammed KHANOUSSI (Yoogali SC), Nathan MATTHEWS (Canberra Juventus), Goran MILUTINOVIC (White Eagles), Max MOTTL (ANU FC), Daniel MUNOZ (Brindabella Blues), Luca NOVOSEL (Canberra Juventus), Maxwell PREST (Wagga City Wanderers), Federico PROIA (Canberra Juventus), Luke VALLONE (Belconnen United)
1 Tyler ALLEN (Wagga City Wanderers), Ohio ASIKHIA (White Eagles), Aleksander BELJANSKI (White Eagles), Harry BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Phil BORGEAUD (Belconnen United), Jordan CACHIA (White Eagles), David CARDER (Belconnen United), Robbie CATTANACH (Belconnen United), Bailey DICKINSON (Belconnen United), William DWIGHT (Canberra Juventus), Dom GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Monteagh GRACE (ANU FC), Oliver GRIST (ANU FC), David GURNEY (Brindabella Blues), Leo HADLEY (ANU FC), Josh HICKMAN (White Eagles), Jayde JAMES-WARD (Belconnen United), Christian JUNNA (Queanbeyan City), Abraham KEMP (Belconnen United), Roshan LAMICHHANE (White Eagles), Jacob LEONARD (Brindabella Blues), Zac MAYBURY (Belconnen United), Goran MUKEVSKI (Queanbeyan City), Tim NGUYEN (Belconnen United), Van NGUYEN (Canberra Juventus), Michael PICCOLO (Queanbeyan City), Romain PINTO (Yoogali SC), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Fahad RAMADHAN (Canberra Juventus), Robert RIMMER (Yoogali SC), Dejan SANTRAC (White Eagles), Kolby SEARS (Yoogali SC), Zac STEELE (Wagga City Wanderers), Riley WILLIAMS (Brindabella Blues), Jan WOJNA (ANU FC)
